Rhinebeck was a blast – as always. Christy and I got up there late Thursday night and spent Friday knitting, watching Gilmore Girls on DVD, planning out shopping for Saturday and avoiding the sporadic downpours.
Fortunately Saturday was much less wet – although it did rain hard for 30 minutes around 2 o’clock.
But you didn’t come here to read about New England weather. You came for the yarn.
Over the years – this was our sixth Rhinebeck – we’ve honed our shopping approach. My mantra when deciding to buy a yarn this year was “Can I get this at home? Do I know what i’ll make from it?”
That mantra helped me avoid several impromptu purchases. In the end I bought three yarns and a book:
- A skein of Miss Babs sock yarn in the Rhinebeck 2011 colorway. Miss Babs said she’ll be doing commemorative colorways moving forward and I couldn’t pass this one up. My pact with myself is to knit up this skein before next Rhinebeck so I can buy the 2012 colorway. I love it so it feels doable. Right now I’m thinking a garter stitch shawl to showcase the colors and avoid the possibility of pooling. Possibly Lintilla for its movement with the stitches and the ruffle.
- 2 skeins of Gypsy Girl Creations Transitions in the Viola Bouquet colorway. I’ve never seen this yarn before and I couldn’t resist. I need to hunt for the right sock pattern to take advantage of the gradient dyeing. Any suggestions?
- 1 skein on Lang Jawoll sock for a pair of
entrelac mitts. I was intending to make entrelac mitts and then I realized I’d hate knitting entrelac on such a small circumference. So I’m on the hunt for a mitt pattern that will look great with the long repeats. - Clara Parkes’ new book The Knitter’s Book of Socks
. Clara (who’s seriously one of the nicest people I met this year) was signing books and I’m *obsessed* with the orange socks on the cover. I want to finish my current sock though – Bubble Stream.
Speaking of – I’m done with sock #1 and it’s a beauty (pic next time, I promise). What a wonderful pattern and I’m starting to appreciate the virtues of cuff-down sock knitting. The feet go *so fast*. I’ll be casting on for sock 2 tonight so I don’t lose momentum.
There’s also one yarn I want to keep in mind for Maryland. While it didn’t satisfy an immediate need it’s really cool and I’d like to come up with a use for it – Miss Babs’ Moo & Ewe – 80% milk fiber 20% merino – reminded me of a bamboo merino blend – super drapey, great sheen and the fiber took the dye similarly to bamboo with its more subtle saturation. Generically I was thinking shawl but do particular pattern came to mind. We all know that would have created a minimum 5 year stay in the stash. No thank you.
What about you? Did you go to Rhinebeck? What did you get?
Looks like you had fun! I’d hoped to see Clara again, met her last year and she is delightful! I like your shopping philosophy – I try to do the same!
Amazing purchases. I have had that book on my want list. Tell us what you think.
Lintilla shawl will beautiful. Love that pattern.
My new favorite sock pattern is Twinkleberry.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/twinkleberry
But I have also been quite addicted to No Purl Monkeysm which always look great with varigated yarn.
No Rhinebeck for me this year. Next year Sock Summit and Rhinebeck are on the agenda!
i didn’t get much. but i got a ball of jawoll as well (in a blue/turquoise colorway) and a yarn bowl by jennie the potter and a project bag. yep that’s pretty much it. it was a great weekend.
Great purchases. I’m interested to see how the Gypsy Girl yarn knits up. I didn’t see that one at the festival.
You’ve totally made my day! That orange sock is my first (hopefully of many) published pattern, if you have any questions feel free to email me.